--- title: "With Bandera, but without Yanukovych: how the National Pantheon is being formed and who will be on the first list" description: "Ukraine has begun the reburial of liberation movement heroes at the NMCC. πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦\n\nUGA commanders and other figures will be temporarily placed at the cemetery while the National Pantheon is being built. Melnyk and his wife were the first to return from Luxembourg. πŸ•―οΈ" date: 2026-06-03T06:04:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/ukraine-national-pantheon-reburial-of-heroes-en tags: [] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # With Bandera, but without Yanukovych: how the National Pantheon is being formed and who will be on the first list ![Golden trident on a banner staff as a symbol of Ukrainian statehood in the context of forming the National Pantheon](https://xab.info/media/2026/06/03/ukraina-natsionalnyy-pantheon-perezakhoronenie-geroev/ukraina-natsionalnyy-pantheon-perezakhoronenie-geroev-1.webp) Ukraine has embarked on a large-scale process of repatriating outstanding historical figures. At the center of attention is the creation of the National Pantheon and the reburial of liberation movement activists at the National Military Memorial Cemetery (NMCC). ### Phase One: Returning the Heroes The process is organized in stages. In the first phase, priority is given to military figures who participated in the liberation struggle. Two special plots have already been allocated for them on the territory of the memorial cemetery. Preparations are currently underway to transfer the remains of the first ten heroes. Among those whose remains will be reburied first are commanders of the Ukrainian Galician Army (UGA): Ignat Stepaniv, Antin Kravets, and Viktor Kumanovych. ### Criteria and Temporary Placement It is important to note that not all heroes will immediately be placed in the Pantheon itself. As Poturaev noted, military figures who have done much for the defense of the Motherland but do not yet meet certain criteria for Pantheon status will be transferred to separate sectors of the cemetery. Commanders-in-Chief and the leading figures of the liberation movement must find their final resting place directly in the Pantheon of Outstanding Ukrainians. However, the memorial itself is still in the creation phase. Therefore, even the highest-ranking historical figures will initially be buried on the territory of the military memorial cemetery. Only later will their remains be transferred to their permanent location β€” the Pantheon. ### History of the Project The initiative to create the Pantheon was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in April 2026. The project envisages the construction of a memorial to honor national heroes and key historical figures who played a role in shaping national consciousness and statehood. The first step in realizing this idea was the return of the remains of Colonel Andriy Melnyk and his wife Sofia from Luxembourg. Deputy Head of the Office of the President, Iryna Vereshchuk, then called this event the beginning of the formation of the National Pantheon of Heroes.